World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 69 The Spirit of Pursuing Nature

Upon suddenly hearing her senior's name, Lin An fell silent.

The witch doesn't seem to have any ill intentions...

After a long pause, he spoke: "But I'm a member of the Foundation, and I even turned the basilisk's corpse into a weapon. I thought you would try to kill me to avenge your companions."

“It died, and you and its life became one. I believe this is the continuation of the soul.”

The witch walked over; she was at least two meters tall, and her warm hands tenderly stroked Lin An's thick black hair.

“Lin, you can do whatever you want, because my dream is to enable anyone to do whatever they want. The foundation is just a position, not an organization—because ideas can change.”

"If everyone did whatever they wanted, the world would probably be destroyed..."

Lin An couldn't help but think of the group of free-spirited mystics under the witch's command. They were indeed "free," but each of them was insane, cruel, and treated human life like dirt.

Because they knew that, no matter what, the witch would use illusions to help them escape the Foundation's punishment.

Without the fear of the gallows, there is no moral constraint that the gallows bring.

Noticing Lin An's hesitation, the witch nonchalantly swayed her short sheep tail.

“You don’t believe me? You think she’s crazy, maybe she is. But the orbits of ‘Commerx’ will eventually converge, giving everyone a chance to rebel. Mystery is a brick; you’re using it to build a court of reason, but I’m throwing it out the window of the real world.”

“Humanity always needs some kind of order.” Lin An’s eyes flickered. “True disorder would be a disaster.”

"Wrong, the important thing is to spread chaos, not eliminate chaos! Listen, you can be anyone you want to be, that's a spell. Listen to that... you can be anyone—anyone!"

Lin An's pupils constricted.

The witch's words touched the most hidden corner of his heart. All along, Lin An had forced himself to wear the shackles of morality, not because he wanted to, but because he always felt that once he abandoned the principles of being human, he could never turn back.

Those traits that make him stand out from the people around him will completely consume him.

But what does it matter...?

The rare fact that the radiation from "Commerx" has turned all my long-cherished fantasies into reality.

no no!
Lin An forcibly dispelled this idea.

"Comers" was ultimately a ten-year carnival. He did not belong to that world; he was a Titan, and he would spend the rest of his life on the land of Titan!

"Let me think about it." Lin An changed the subject. "Does the [Fox Spirit] know that I am a mystery person?"

Do you want me to tell her?

"No need."

"Oh, I smell romance in your air. Are you two a couple?"

Just as his confusion dissipated, Lin An almost lost his composure.

Witch, you're becoming more and more unbelievable!

However, Lin An did not feel uncomfortable being pried into his private life. Instead, he felt a strange urge to confide in her. Perhaps it was because he knew that the witch would not interfere in his life, or perhaps it was because the witch had nothing to do with his real life.

Organizing his thoughts, Lin An began to speak.

“When I was a freshman, my senior found out that I stayed at the university during the winter break, so she invited me to her house for New Year’s Eve dinner. Over time, I became familiar with her family. One day, my senior’s mother came to me and said that she thought I was a good… son-in-law.”

“But my senior and I are only suitable to be friends, so during that time we had to pretend to be together, and over time it almost became an unspoken understanding. We would first take a photo together at the meeting place, and then turn on our computers and work without disturbing each other.”

"Fortunately, my senior's mother only persisted for a year." Lin An smiled. "Prescribing marriage is quite a strange thing, isn't it?"

"So what kind of girl do you like?" The witch, as expected, didn't make any unpleasant comments and continued the conversation without leaving a trace.

“My love—” Lin An took a deep breath, “Only the occult!”

Ten minutes later, Barry handed Lin An a steaming cup of coffee, and he noticed a faint smile on the young man's handsome face.

Unlike his usual polite and aloof demeanor, Lin An seemed genuinely happy at this moment.

"Did you think of something good?" Barry asked curiously.

"I just received an email. This boring attendance is finally coming to an end." Lin An raised his brightly lit phone screen. "The president is back from his business trip and has brought us a challenging new task."

"Then why are you laughing?"

“I enjoy challenges,” Lin An said, blowing away the steam from his coffee. “I especially love government-funded travel.”

Barry leaned closer to his phone and saw the email contained the following:

Control of Team 3
Hello Ann Lin, Melissa Slane, Barry Fenton. It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Thunderbird, codenamed Alpha-001, has been successfully captured. It flew from Michigan to a neighboring country, made a loop, and was finally apprehended in New York City.

The individual's file remains registered under our facility's name. After discussions at the senior management level, it was unanimously decided that you would undertake this honorable transportation responsibility.

You need to deliver the Thunderbird to the headquarters in San Francisco, Kalevnia Oblast.

This is a long-term mission that will officially begin at 10:00 AM on January 31st. You will have two days to prepare starting today, so please allocate your time accordingly.

The detailed itinerary is attached.

If you have any questions, please contact Simon Lloyd.

President of the St. Aniloff, Dietrich, Michigan branch of the foundation,

Avia Emmanuel.

…………

Lin An closed the heavy ancient book and let out a long sigh of relief.

A mechanical voice from the system echoed in my mind.

"The entry 'Encyclopedia of Magic III: Playing Pan's Flute - The Mystic Art of Worshiping the Familiar Oak Tree' has been added. You have obtained the media 'Seeker' x3, 'Nature Priest' x5, 'God of Truth' x2, 'God of Agriculture' x1, and 'Lord of the Earth' x1."

Those who know the oak tree actually refer to Druids, because "druid" in Gaelic means "to know the oak tree, to be familiar with the oak tree".

Druidism was a Celtic faith that spread throughout Gaul, the Lion Islands, the Western Regions, Asia Minor, and the Balkans in the fifth century BC. It was not until the first century AD, when the Romans suppressed the Celts, that Druidism was eventually replaced by the High God sect.

Since ancient times, people have had many speculations about Druids, but in reality, because Druidism could only be passed down orally, and continuous wars swept away these believers, almost all the orthodox Druidic rituals and doctrines were lost.

Currently, almost all information about the Druids comes from the writings of the Greeks and Romans.

For example, in the writings of Diogenes Laertius, he mentions that the Druids were already an ancient institution as early as the time of Aristotle in the fourth century BC.

Both men and women can become druids. They are guardians of traditional wisdom, focusing on moral philosophy, natural phenomena, and theology, and are skilled in divination, interpreting omens, performing rituals, creating calendars, herbal medicine, astronomy, and poetry.

The duties of a Druid include conducting religious ceremonies as a Druidnies, acting as a mediator between the people and nature spirits, and participating in some political and judicial decisions.

According to Greek records, Druids believed that certain trees, plants, or animals possessed divine and healing powers, the most famous being mistletoe. In Druidism, the oak tree represented healing, fertility, good fortune, and resistance to evil.

Therefore, druids typically held ceremonies in oak forests, river sources, and lakes—the Celts also worshipped water gods and believed water to be sacred.

The few extant detailed descriptions of Druidic rituals come from Pliny the Elder.

He wrote that a druid in white robes climbed an oak tree, cut mistletoe with a gilded bronze tool in his left hand, wrapped the cut leaves in a white cloth, ground them into powder, and added water to the people.

This tea can control epilepsy, high blood pressure, and paralysis, and treat infertility.

The priests then slaughtered two white bulls as offerings and held a grand feast. All the Keter people danced with the priests, expressing their worship to nature.

In Roman records, the Druids were a group of "natural, bloodthirsty, and uncivilized" barbarians. However, later generations, based on classical texts, redefined Druidism, romanticizing, spiritualizing, and idealizing their rituals.

The Druidic rituals recorded in "The Complete Book of Magic III" have been interpreted by later generations, therefore the system gives them a rating of "Legendary D".

The only saving grace is that the Druid's worship spell no longer requires the "God of Truth" medium.

Lin An brought up his panel, where the green data displayed the system's status.

[Name]: The Encyclopedia of Mystery
[Rating]: Source Grade B

Radiation level: 3%
[Pollution Level]: 4.5%
[Medium]: The seeker of knowledge

[Inventory]: Seeker of Knowledge x8, God of Truth x3, Dreamer x6, Prophet x4, Emperor of War x1, Nature Priest x7, Mother of Desire x1, God of Agriculture x1, Lord of the Earth x3.

Currently, there are plenty of seekers of knowledge and natural ritual mediums available, so in the future, we can confidently cast the mystical spells of "The Complete Book of Magic III" to increase the system's radiation.

More importantly, unlike Hittite rituals, Druidic worship arcane arts and the five functions of the wand itself are similar in effect, allowing one to get away with it even if the captain sees it with his own eyes.

Lin An was finally able to use the "Complete Book of Magic" openly and legitimately.

After the system finished collecting the data, Lin An put all the ancient books into a cardboard box, sealed it with tape, and prepared to have Barry take them back to his apartment later.

He was about to embark on a long journey, and entrusting them to his mother for safekeeping was more reassuring than leaving them in the foundation's dormitory.

"Ding dong."

Lin An couldn't help but glance at the message on his phone that he was particularly interested in.

Adria: Anne, Mommy has arrived at the Bucharest airport and is about to board the plane. We have 15 hours left before arriving in Dietrich.

(End of this chapter)